Five years ago, affordable Android smartphones told a rather dismal tale of compromises, be it with the design, performance or the overall user experience. Fortunately, Motorola hit the perfect notes with the Moto G at the time by offering a significantly better user experience than any other phone in the price range. Subsequently, rivals have had to up their game, too—even though last year’s Moto G wasn’t exactly a big step forward. The latest iteration, the Moto G6, is truly moving ahead.

Design: This is a very good-looking smartphone, and even more so because it picks up a lot of design cues from the beautiful and its more expensive sibling, the Moto X4. In fact, the looks have got a serious upgrade with the metal frame and glass at the back. Further, the watch-dial design around the dual cameras on the back adds a dash of sophistication that will be hard for competition to match. The curved edges make it great to hold, even though this Moto G is taller than any of its predecessors.

Display: The big change over the previous generations is the taller display (18:9 aspect ratio), which is 5.7-inch and has the 2,160 x 1,080 resolution. You get to see vibrant colours and the text reads well. If you really turn up the brightness to max, colour richness does feel a bit subdued. Overall, the new aspect ratio makes this quite immersive to watch videos on, for instance.

Performance: The Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor comes with the option of a 3GB or 4GB RAM. This is actually a tweaked Snapdragon 625 processor and replaces the Snapdragon 435—it is 25% faster, and better with graphics. We can always argue that Moto could have given the G6 a more powerful processor, but the fact is that even now, performance is not a problem. Clean Android is the highlight—even when half a dozen apps open simultaneously, the performance is consistent and stutter free.

Camera: At the back, you have a 12-megapixel and a 5-megapixel camera. The photos taken from the Moto G6 are mostly good, as long as you compose the photos with consistent lighting. Details, colours and vibrancy are ticked off during daytime shots. However, as with most of its counterparts, camera performance struggles in low-light environments.

In sum: The Moto G6 is definitely a tempting option at the ₹ 15,000 price point. You can choose between two variants—the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant is priced at ₹ 13,999, while the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage option has a sticker price of ₹ 15,999. You do end up paying a premium for the cool design and slick performance.